


To Protect And Serve

by Arcturus_Sinclair



Series: Through The Looking Glass [1]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Police, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 19:12:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18079268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arcturus_Sinclair/pseuds/Arcturus_Sinclair
Summary: This is the life and times at Palmetto State Police Department. Officers Renee Walker and Danielle Wilds take you through their day to day life, including the addition of their Boss's son Kevin Day.How will Kevin fit in to all of this, will anyone get shot? Will this coffee taste any better?Stay tuned![Written for @fornavn for the AFTG Reverse Big Bang! The Prompt was a cop!au, and hopefully I've delivered!]





	1. It Takes a Village

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fornavn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fornavn/gifts).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Renee Walker, Dan Wilds and Kevin Day as they go through their day to day lives as officers of the Palmetto Police Department.
> 
> These are their stories.

* * *

 

Renee walked into the office, and the first thing she noticed was an undercurrent of tension. That was unusual for Palmetto, normally the atmosphere was calm, unless there was something major going on. Then Renee remembered, Kevin Day’s transfer was taking effect today.

See, Kevin was former Department of Defense, and something caused him to transfer out. No one knew exactly what caused it, but from what Renee heard floating around, whatever it was caused his father, and her boss David Wymack to pull some strings and get him reassigned to Palmetto. She’d just forgotten that today was that day. A lot of people were upset that a former DOD was coming into their department with no explanation, but what could they do?

There was really nothing they could do, so everyone was just grinning and bearing it, until today. Today Kevin was standing in the bullpen, and it was impossible to miss him. It was like looking at a smaller version of their boss. Everyone was nearly silent as they worked, avoiding anything to do with Kevin. Renee glanced around and saw her partner, Danielle Wilds by the coffee pot. She made a beeline over to her and poured herself a cup.

“Guess Kevin’s going over well,” Renee murmured, pouring artificial creamer into her coffee as she spoke, keeping her voice pitched low.

“As well as a lead balloon,” Dan muttered back, taking a sip of her coffee before continuing. “He’s made so many friends, can’t you tell?” Renee snorted, then looked up at the commotion that had just started, fearing the worst. Apparently, it was just two suspects being brought in, ones Renee was very familiar with.

This wasn’t the first time the small blonde and redhead were brought in to Palmetto PD, and Renee nearly smiled. Lately they’d been being brought to Palmetto no matter who picked them up. This time, however, it was the Sheriffs bringing them in, and specifically Dan’s boyfriend Sheriff Matt Boyd. Dan rushed over to deal with him and the criminals while Renee realized something.

While this was a near monthly occurrence for most of the PD, it _was_ , however, the first time Kevin dealt with it. Renee quickly pulled Kevin aside to explain some things before he ruined everything.

“See that redheaded boy?” After Kevin’s nod, Renee continued. “He’s our Confidential Informant, hopefully he’ll have something interesting to tell us.”

“Okay, I’ll take him, you take the blonde?” Little did Renee know, Kevin knew all about Neil’s past, although not that he was now a CI. But Renee agreed easily enough and Kevin went to the interrogation room.

Kevin closed the door gently behind him and took stock of the boy in front of him.

“So, you’re the famous butcher’s son. Not surprised you turned out to be scum like him.  How many people have you murdered?”

Neil didn’t even blink, and Kevin met his gaze levelly. He knew Neil wasn’t going to talk just yet, they both had to be sure no one would hear, and Kevin was waiting for a sign.

A few moments later Kevin’s phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket to see a message from Renee telling him their other suspect had been passed by the room and would no longer be at risk of hearing.

“I know what you really are. What information do you have for me?” Neil still didn’t speak for a few moments, and just when Kevin was about to speak again, he finally opened his mouth.

“Not much new, Andrew is still running a drug ring. The only reason we got picked up was he started a fight with the wrong people and got punched. Hitting Andrew never ends well.” Kevin nodded.

“Okay, fair enough.”

“Mind you, the fight was started over drug money, but I’m sure that was obvious.”

Kevin raised an eyebrow at that. He had to admit, he might have known a lot about Neil, but knew next to nothing about Andrew.

“Oh right, you’re a rookie. I guess I should probably start at the beginning for your benefit.”

“I’d appreciate it.”

As Kevin and Neil talked, Renee settled Andrew into his own interrogation room. After sending Kevin the text she smiled at Andrew.

“Well, I’m glad to see that I’m talking to you and not your brother, but just for the record, which name did you give today?” Unfortunately, Andrew had an identical twin, and they had a habit of switching places over the years so Renee managed to learn mannerisms of both that only one twin had, making it easier to place them before speaking to them. But that didn’t mean everyone did what she did, so she had to ask.

“Andrew. Only because your sheriff managed to guess correctly,” Andrew responded, sounding bored.

“Okay good, that does make things easier. Care to explain why you were brought in today?”

“I was assaulted.” A deadpan response. Renee knew better than that, she knew Andrew could take care of himself, and besides, he had no visible marks. She didn’t bother disputing it, instead pressing forward.

“I suppose Sheriff Boyd only saw you retaliating, correct?” At Andrew’s nod, she sighed. She had no doubt that there was more to the story, but she also knew Andrew well enough to know that she wouldn’t get anymore information out of him that he wanted to give. And clearly, he wanted to give as little as possible. Hopefully Kevin was getting more

“How is Aaron, anyway?” A change of subject, but at the same time, not really. Andrew’s answers to that question was usually a good gauge as to what he was up to. Especially since Aaron was usually what kept things running while Andrew was locked up. It’s what made them so hard to catch.

“He’s fine.” Andrew’s words were clipped, and he tensed up at the mention of his brother. Not an unusual response, he didn’t much like Aaron, but that also meant that he was relaxed enough to deal with being stuck there. He knew they really had nothing on him. A fight wasn’t enough to bring him down.

“Okay, we’re done here. No one’s pressing charges, and since there were no drugs on your person, you’re free to go.” She stood, opening the door. As she stepped out of the room, Andrew on her heels, she saw Kevin and Neil exiting their interrogation room. She once again hoped he’d gotten something useful. She said her goodbyes to Andrew, knowing he’d be back in custody soon enough, before stepping over to Kevin.

“What did you find out?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was actually really fun to write, although the amount of googling for cop lingo that'll show up in the later chapters was astounding.


	2. There's No Place Like Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when Renee and Dan have a domestic call, featuring Kevin being...Kevin.

Kevin quickly explained what he and Neil had discussed, and Renee sighed. She’d pretty much gotten nearly the same story from Andrew, which didn’t bode well. That meant Andrew wasn’t up to anything right now; which of course meant Andrew was plotting, and a plotting Andrew never bode well for anyone involved.

Renee didn’t have much time to talk before Dan was approaching her, sliding her jacket on while walking.

“We got a 10-16,” she started and Renee grimaced. 10-16s were domestic cases, which Renee hated. It reminded her too much of the fights her parents had the first 12 years of her life. See, Renee wasn’t always on the good side. Her parents were mutually abusive to each other, as well as her, until her father killed her mother in a murder suicide when she was 12. From 12 to 14 years old, she was in and out of foster homes and gangs. She’d done a lot of bad things while in said gangs, but that only brought her knowledge now. When she was 14 she was adopted by Stephanie Walker after just 6 months of living with her. (The paperwork took a bit longer as it usually did.)

Renee stepped back to get her jacket and motioned for Kevin to follow.

“Come along, Rookie. You might not be very large, but hopefully you can play imposing well enough.” As much as she didn’t really want to have Kevin along just yet, it was better to have him with now, then have to radio in an additional 10-32, which was backup. The time it would take for them to show up would just make things more difficult.

She made her way outside to where Dan was already sitting in their cruiser. Renee ducked her head to speak to Dan while she waited for Kevin to make his way outside.

“I figured we’d be better off bringing Kevin along for backup. Better than calling in a 10-32 while we’re there and being stuck having to de-escalate. Besides, if we end up having to take both into custody the second cruiser already on scene will make it go quicker.”

Dan nodded.

“Also, he’s a guy. Shitty misogyny still applies. You’re tiny, I’m black. Stereotypes say we’re likely in for some shit, so you’re right. Having him might make us not have to deal with it. Besides, it lets him see how capable we are now.” Dan grinned fiercely at the last statement as Kevin approached the cruiser.

“I already got the address, we ready?”  Dan nodded as Renee crossed to enter the passenger seat. As Renee got in and buckled her seat belt, Dan turned the ignition and soon they were on their way.

Renee didn’t like to judge people and places based on their appearance...but sometimes the appearance was lived up to. And Dawson Street was one of those places. They got called to this area nearly once a week, and she could barely hold back the sigh when they turned down a familiar road. Thankfully it wasn’t the house she was used to them going to.

It was next door. Well, God did have a sense of humor.

After a moment, they pulled up in front of the house; Kevin not quite behind, and before she opened her door, she could hear the screaming. Well, she could see why they were called if she was able to hear the screaming through the closed car window... And, there they went taking the Lord’s name in vain.

Renee slipped out of the car carefully, hand already on her gun. She didn’t even manage to make it up to the door before she heard the familiar pop of a gun going off.

“Shots fired, shots fired.” She dropped down, ducking down behind a tree in the yard and grabbing her radio to repeat her shots fired call.  She knew even though there were already three of them on scene that she should call it in just in case.  Dan got out of the car and quickly took cover behind the engine block, as they are taught in training but Kevin got out and took cover behind the trunk. 

Renee looked back to the others in a way to say ‘guess I’m going first’ and moved cautiously towards the door.  The screaming hadn’t gone quiet which means husband hadn’t shot the wife, or at least not yet, then again it could have been her to get to the gun first and was now in hysterics from having shot him.  From outside it was impossible to tell what the actual situation was and this is what made their jobs so stressful.  Renee crept up the steps onto the front porch as Dan and Kevin came up behind her.  All three were crouching down to avoid being seen through the windows of the house but they still needed to open the door.  With Renee on the left Dan took the right and Kevin decided he was going to kick in the door, and so he did.

Kevin stepped up to the door jam and kicked the door just under the handle with full force, sending splinters of wood flying as the metal tore through the wooden frame, for his effort he was greeted by the sounds of another gunshot and the pain of a round landing dead center in his chest as he was almost thrown down the steps of the porch.  In that instant the two ladies knew this was a serious situation and had to act quickly, Renee took point, wheeling through the door in a perfect semicircular arc, sidearm raising from her holster and training in the direction of the gun, Dan followed a step behind, gun drawn but arcing the opposite way to clear the room.  The sight they saw was not entirely what they had expected to see though.

In front of them stood the female, presumably their suspect’s wife, gun shaking so badly in her hands that she dropped it as soon as Renee was close enough to catch it, Dan on the other side of the room was greeted by a bloody husband holding his shoulder and spitting curses at the wife.  The wife was a mess herself appearing to have been the first victim today but the tides can change in any situation quickly.  Renee took the wife’s gun as she started to speak to the woman;

 “Okay, just hand that over slowly, I’m Renee from the Palmetto Police Department everything is going to be okay, but I need you to turn around and place your hands behind your back.  Okay?”

 “Okay…  is he dead?”

 “Don’t worry about that right now, you were scared and did what you thought you had to.  But I do have to detain you while we check on him and your boy over there.”

 The wife nodded, taking a deep breath.

At the same time Dan had holstered her gun and proceeded to identify that the man had a bullet in his shoulder.  She pulled out her radio and was about to call in for a 10-52 (which was an ambulance) when another voice cracked across the radio asking for one at their location, it was Kevin’s.  So, not dead apparently.  Hooray for small miracles, Renee would have shuddered at the paperwork she would have needed to fill out had she let the chief’s son die on the clock.

“Radio,” Kevin started speaking to dispatch, “- We’re gonna need a 52 out here, 622 Dawson Street and I’m going to need a new vest.  Over.” 

As Renee holstered her firearm, she gently placed her handcuffs on the wife’s wrists and slowly walked her out of the house and over to the back of their police car where she had the lady sit on the ground in the yard by the rear tire, sensing the woman might vomit.  Dan helped husband up, and for safety reasons placed her cuffs on his wrists though not as gently as she probably should have when dealing with someone who had just been shot.  Kevin went and took out a pair of gloves before touching anything.  He picked up the wife’s gun, cleared it, disarmed it and set it on the kitchen table waiting for the lab guys to come collect it as evidence.  Dan escorted husband out to sit on the porch and wait for the ambulance.

Once it arrived, they looked over the husband and took him along with one of the responding uniformed officers to the hospital to finish whatever was going to be needed with him.  Another unit came and they passed the wife to them to have her rights read as she was being taken in for possible spousal abuse, though everyone was fairly certain she was a victim that had enough and stood up for herself, that was for the lawyers and judges to figure out. Renee was once again reminded why she hated these so much, though.  Renee and Dan went to the ambulance to check on Kevin who had now stripped off his shirt and was having his bruises looked at.  Renee was pretty sure the biggest bruise he had was the one to his ego.

“Everyone alive?”

“Fortunately, can you imagine my Dad’s reaction if I died in a domestic?” Kevin laughed, wincing. Yeah, that was going to hurt for a while… After Dan walked back from clearing what she could, she nodded.

They were free to leave. Renee slid back into the passenger’s seat, and back to the precinct they went…there was paperwork to be filed now.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully everyone is enjoying this, the next chapter is going to have some sap, so look forward to that!


	3. Blood Relations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Kevin's shooting.

Of course, when they got back, Kevin was immediately called into his father’s office. He wasn’t surprised about that at all, he knew Chief had to know what had happened. Kevin held back a sigh, he didn’t really want to deal with a lecture right now, his chest still hurt; and he already felt stupid enough.

Besides, if he blew off his boss—even if he was his father—what example did that set? But that didn’t mean he couldn’t get a cup of (terrible) coffee before he did so. Caffeine was caffeine; and since he couldn’t mix alcohol in it while on duty, it’d suffice. Kevin quickly fixed his coffee; black because even copious amounts of sugar wouldn’t help it, it wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t always taste burnt.

He took a swallow, grimaced, and then made his way to the Chief’s door, knocking twice.

“Come in,” his father’s voice returned after a moment.

Kevin pushed the door open, slipping in and shutting it behind him before his father even acknowledged him. Wymack’s eyes were scanning the sheet in front of him, no doubt the basic after-action report that they managed to get done as they were heading back. Kevin knew he was about to have a lot more paperwork anyway, but first apparently a lecture.

Wymack nodded towards the chair and Kevin slid into it, fiddling with the lid to his coffee cup. He almost felt like a child being summoned to the principal’s office.

“Were you wearing a vest?”

Of course, that was the first question, like Kevin was some sort of idiot. He knew protocol front to back. He almost went on the defensive, but realized that wouldn’t help anything, so he just nodded.

“Yes, Sir.”

“So, what exactly happened?”

“Normal lead in, Walker took point, Wilds and I covered. I kicked the door in got shot, dead center. I went down, was unable to assist for a brief amount of time, and Wilds and Walker handled clearing the scene. Both parties are in custody. And before you ask, I didn’t see which party fired at me. Walker probably did, since she took point after the breach.”

Kevin took a swallow of his coffee then, while Wymack let out a sigh of…relief? Kevin didn’t expect that, and really didn’t know what to feel, until Wymack started talking.

“When I heard you’d been shot, I had flashbacks to when your mother…”

Wymack paused for a moment, and Kevin just waited. His mother was a sore subject. Kayleigh Day was a former DoD Liaison, and had been shot and killed while driving home from work. The shooting was a case of mistaken identity; apparently, she just happened to drive the same car as the murderer’s dealer. Kevin had just turned 12. At that time, he hadn’t met Wymack—wasn’t even aware he was his father yet. That came later when Kevin turned 18 and started doing his own research.

After Kayleigh died, Tetsuji Moriyama took Kevin under his wing and ended up adopting him. Tetsuji’s nephew Riko was that catalyst for Kevin’s leaving DoD. But that was a story for another time, one that not even Wymack knew the full details yet…

“This was different.”

Kevin finally spoke, needing to say something. Wymack nodded.

“I know…but still, if something had happened to you now…after everything…I don’t know if I could have lived with myself knowing I sent you on that call.”

Kevin had to look away as Wymack’s voice choked at the end. Tetsuji was never the most affectionate man, and that hadn’t changed much with Wymack, so him actually showing some concern was…startling to say the least.

“It’s the job though. It was a domestic dispute; shots almost always happen. That or knives.” Kevin chuckled before continuing.

“But that doesn’t mean you would have sent me to my death. That means that the high risk, life threatening job I signed up for delivered on those risks. And we both know I’d rather die on the job if I had the option.”

Wymack nodded. Kevin knew he was right, and he knew his father hated to admit it. And honestly? He was still weirded out that Wymack was so worried when he had to have known Kevin would follow protocol…in fact—

“Did you really think I’d go out without a vest?”

Wymack laughed.

“No, but we both know I had to ask. Protocol and all.”

Wymack’s eyes flashed then, knowing the need to ask had annoyed Kevin. But there were steps that had to be followed first, before he could go Dad mode; speaking of…

“How bad was it? I know getting shot in the chest, even with the vest, had to have hurt.”

Kevin grimaced then, hand reaching up to rub his chest.

“Bruised ribs. Nothing appeared fractured, EMTs said give it 24 hours. If the pain gets any worse, I have any serious trouble breathing or start coughing up blood to go to the ER. But since they don’t wrap ribs anymore, I’m sort of just stuck with pain killers.”

Kevin took a breath before continuing.

“They can’t actually really tell without an x-ray if anything was broken though. But it’s all handled the same at this point so I should be fine. I feel like there’s a joke I could make about getting good pain killers, but at the same time, I’ve arrested enough dealers over the years…” He laughed, grimacing.

“Desk duty next week then,” Wymack responded. Kevin opened his mouth to argue, but decided not to. What would it really accomplish? An argument, and let’s face it, Kevin was too tired for that. He needed a drink…

“Maybe in that week I can figure out how to get better coffee in this place…” He muttered instead, looking down at his cup. Wymack laughed.

“By all means, if you can find something better, and cheap. Please do. It’s like drinking sludge…”

“Bitter sludge,” Kevin corrected, grinning. Wymack laughed at that, nodding.

“Exactly. So, if you can fix it, within a budget, I highly doubt anyone will complain. Now, go on and get whatever you need to done for the day and go home.”

Kevin nodded, leaving Wymack’s office, and saw Renee and Dan mulling around by his desk.

“What’s up?” The words were out of his mouth before he got back to the desk, just in case.

“What are you up to on Saturday?” This from Dan, who leaned an elbow on his desk as he slid into his chair.

“Nothing that I’m aware of. Why?”

“We’re all going out. You’re invited.” Kevin raised an eyebrow at that.

“Who’s we?”

“The three of us now, Matt—my boyfriend—and Allison Reynolds, the Assistant District Attorney for Palmetto.”

“Okay,” Kevin conceded. “When and where?”

“Where do you live, exactly?” Kevin rattled off his address and Dan nodded. “Okay, Allison lives a few blocks away, we’ll have her pick you up and then meet at my place. Say around 7?”

“That works for me.” With that Dan and Renee left Kevin’s desk, allowing him to get started on the stack of paperwork he had to fill out. He swore; besides the bruised ego, the paperwork was the worst part of getting shot. It’s not like this was the first time he’d been injured or anything.

He glanced at his now empty coffee cup, and shuddered. He wasn’t refilling that any time soon. Tomorrow he could go looking around town to see what coffee shops he could find; see if he could make any deals with them to provide coffee at a discount.

He actually made a note in his phone about that before going back to the after-action report. He could write what his findings were, and that Dan’s use of deadly force was within policy (with important qualifications). So that was important to note. In fact; the Code of Federal Regulations stated,  

 _“Deadly force means that force which a reasonable person would consider likely to cause death or serious bodily harm. Its use may be justified only under conditions of extreme necessity, when all lesser means have failed or cannot reasonably be employed. A protective force officer is authorized to use deadly force only when one or more of the following circumstances exists: Self-Defense. When deadly force reasonably appears to be necessary to protect a protective force officer who reasonably believes himself or herself to be in imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm._ ”

Everything Dan did fell under that, especially since he’d been fired on beforehand. So, he mentioned that regulation, and everything that he was aware of that followed. He also mentioned that he was seen by medical professionals and had been placed on limited for a total of seven days due to injuries sustained.

So now that was in writing. Which meant he had a week to catch up on paperwork and other things while staring at monitors for a week. Unless he went to the hospital after the next few days, then it’d be modified again. Besides, while on light duty, he’ll still need to meet reasonable performance and productivity standards. Or at least, that’s how it was put in the paperwork he was given when starting…that day.

Kevin heard Dan laugh and glanced at the clock. Six pm, the end of his shift for the day. He stood, stretching.

“See you tomorrow,” he called out as Renee walked out the door, who saluted back. Dan however, was still packing up her bag, and he decided to walk her out.

“So, how’d everything go with Chief?” Kevin shrugged.

“Fine, made sure protocol was followed, checked in on my well-being, you know the norm.” They reached their cars, and Kevin leaned against his.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Dan nodded and agreed before getting into her car and driving off. Kevin watched her go before folding himself gingerly into his own car to make the trek home.

Tomorrow was a new day, and it couldn’t be any worse than his first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for posting these late, but here's the previously mentioned sap! The next chapter will be the last of this installment, but don't worry, I've already got two other installments in the works.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Palmetto PD goes drinking. What secrets will come out?

               Renee had been waiting for this all week. They finally had a weekend ‘off’, if it could be called that; since the PD was always on call. But Wymack already knew of their plans and that there would be drinking involved so he’d gone ahead and scheduled other overnight cops. So, barring any major emergencies there were enough other capable cops to handle it.

                Allison Reynolds, their Assistant District Attorney was driving, and she’d already picked up Kevin. The two of them knew each other from other cases, and he lived the closest to her; so, it just made sense. Allison was also their designated driver, which anyone who knew Allison would have found hilarious. Allison never met a bottle of wine she didn’t like. In all reality, it’d be Matt driving after everyone had been drinking. And knowing Allison and Dan, they were probably going to have one drink while everyone was finishing getting ready.

                Which of course happened right as Allison walked into Dan and Matt’s apartment, she had a key after all these years. Renee was in the bathroom getting ready. Dan was already dressed, wearing a green dress. Allison was wearing a white, low cut dress; while Matt was in a blue button-down shirt and slacks. And as for Kevin? Kevin was wearing a long-sleeved striped polo shirt and jeans.

                Dan smiled and handed Allison a glass of wine. She offered one to Kevin who just shook his head. Wine wasn’t really his thing. Vodka was always his first choice, ever since he could drink. He supposed he had Riko to thank for that. (Along with the tattoo gracing his inner wrist. Which was the reason for the sleeves, no one he worked with needed to see that yet.)

                Renee stepped out of the bathroom a moment later, wearing a yellow dress and flats. She smiled fondly at Dan and Allison.

                “I wish you two would wait until we got where we were going.” She sounded almost mothering, but there was no condescension in her voice.

                “I have needed a drink all day,” Allison responded with a mock pout. Kevin was reminded then that just because they had Saturday off didn’t mean she did. Matt stood up then, taking Allison’s keys.

                “Looks like you’re all stuck with me driving. Kevin, right? You wanna claim shotgun so we can let the girls giggle in the back?”

                Kevin nodded, laughing at that.

“You’re not going to be drinking?”

“Nah, can’t stand the stuff. Never could.”

 Dan slipped her shoes on while they talked, and they all made their way outside to play musical seats. Once everyone was in and settled, it didn’t take long for them to arrive at the bar; having chosen one about 10 minutes away driving, 20 if they ended up having to walk.

                They all flashed their ids, and got their hands stamped upon entrance. Renee was the last one in because the bouncer tried to argue that it was fake ID, until she pulled out her badge and ID. Besides the fact that the birth-date matched on both, the fact that they don’t let you out of the Academy until you’re 21 was enough to get her in the door.

                “You know, after you turn twenty-five, being carded stops feeling cute and feels annoying,” Renee muttered once she got to the table.

                Everything happened very quickly from there, drinks started coming and Kevin loved every minute of it. Matt at least got drinks that appeared alcoholic, so he didn’t stand out too much.

                After a bit, a few bottles were delivered to their table, and that was it. They all were laughing and talking and just blowing off the steam of the week. Renee had already kicked her shoes off and had one leg curled under her as best she could.

                Kevin took another swallow of whatever was in his glass at this point and tried to listen to the conversation.  Not that it worked very well, and soon he found himself sort of zoning out. Unfortunately, his next choice while zoned out might not be his best.

                Kevin was comfortably buzzed by this point, and without thinking—without remembering for the first time in he couldn’t remember how long—rolled his sleeves up, forgetting the tattoo. Dan noticed when Kevin picked the bottle back up to pour himself another glass, and her hand shot out, grabbing his wrist.

                “Look at this,” she crowed; in a way only the drunk can manage.

                “Kev’s got a tattoo!” Everyone crowded around, while Kevin couldn’t take his eyes off of the tattoo. He remembered before it existed in permanency, he used to trace it with markers. The number two, so simple, with Riko matching with the number one. They always played it off as old lacrosse jersey numbers…

                But Kevin knew the truth. It was their pecking order. Kevin was always going to be second to Riko’s first. Kevin had to shake himself when he heard someone—he thought Renee—ask what it meant.

                “Lacrosse jersey as a kid. My ~~(adopted)~~ brother was one, I was two. We were sixteen when we got them done.” Kevin forced a chuckle then.

                “Don’t you have to be eighteen?” This from Matt.

                “West Virginia, where I grew up, is sixteen with parental—or in my case legal guardian—consent, via written waiver.”

                Kevin rattled off the stats quickly. He remembered when he and Riko approached Tetsuji about getting them done, and needed those same stats along with the sheet of paper to get the approval. Which was easier than he’d expected, but still.

                He grinned when Dan slapped him on the back, adding;

                “Riko—my brother—wanted us to get them on our faces. Can you imagine all the shit talk if two DoD agents came rolling up with numbers tattooed on their faces? Hell, even before DoD, imagine two trainees coming through all tatted up. We’d have been thrown out of the Academy before we even started!”

                Everyone laughed at that, and soon the conversation changed. No one treated him any differently for having a tattoo, and getting it so young either. At least Wymack already knew about it. He’d seen it at their first meeting, and gave him hell about it. So, he almost expected everyone else to do the same, even if they weren’t close yet.

                Allison grabbed his hand then, and Renee’s as well, and pulled them both on to the dance floor. Kevin laughed as they both sandwiched him and began attempting to dance. Guess someone should have mentioned Kevin couldn’t dance to save his life.

                “I can’t dance,” he pointed out of the music.

                “Doesn’t matter,” Allison responded. “Fake it till you make it. That’s how I learned, unlike Miss classically trained behind you.”

                Kevin turned just in time to see Renee’s cheeks turn red and he just grinned.

                “Looks like we all have some weird secrets,” he pointed out. He also was suddenly aware that Renee’s drinks were also nonalcoholic, why that hit his drunken mind then he didn’t know. He also had no idea how well his faking dancing was going, but with Allison wrapped around him he didn’t mind all that much.

                Unfortunately, he was reminded again that alcohol was a depressant when he was hit with sudden longing for his ex, Thea. They’d met when they were partnered up in DoD; after Riko was promoted. They hadn’t started out attracted to each other, but unfortunately, they were very similar and feeling bloomed. If what happened with Riko and the DoD hadn’t happened, he’d probably still be dating her.

                Thankfully he was shaken from his thoughts again when Allison slid around him so she was sandwiched between him and Renee, and that’s how they stayed until the song ended.

                They all made their way back to the table and that’s when Kevin noticed that they weren’t the only ones that left to dance. Dan and Matt were making their way back, looking very cozy. He’d have felt jealousy if it wasn’t mildly amusing seeing his badass partner all soft looking.

                “So how often do you guys do this?”

                “We aim for once a month—”

                “Unless someone gets shot on the job and we need to de-compress sooner.” Dan cut off, Allison, grinning good-naturedly.

                “Yeah yeah, I know, rookie mistake. Get shot on my first day. Way to live up to the Boss’s Son rep.” Kevin rolled his eyes after speaking.

                “Yeah no. None of us could have guessed that it was going to go down like that. We all followed protocol, and sometimes things just go to shit. I’m just glad it wasn’t worse.”

                “Yeah, Dan told me everything you guys did, and every step was right. I’m just glad you guys are in the habit of wearing vests. Shot center mass…” The it would have been fatal was left hanging in the air. Not wanting to bring the mood down, Kevin made a joke at his own expense.

                “At least you didn’t have to tell my Dad I got shot. I’d hate to see the paperwork he’d force you all to do if that happened.” Renee smiled then.

                “I hate to say it, but I thought that right after I saw you were really okay.”

                “Gee, thanks. At least you waited till after I got back up to start thinking about paperwork, normally I’m thinking about it as I’m processing the bodies.” They all laughed at that, and Kevin grabbed his glass.

                “To not dying!” He raised his glass and took a swallow. Everyone else followed suit and the subject dropped, moving on to happier conversations.

                The hours passed, and they all closed out the bar. No one that worked there seemed surprised by this so Kevin assumed it was normal. They slowly started to make their way back the car. Kevin glanced at his watch…two am. And was thankful that Renee kept making sure everyone was drinking water between drinks. She really was the mother of the group, and he didn’t think he minded all that much.

                “So, uh. How’s getting everyone home happening?” He’d realized then that he was stuck until Allison left, and she was in no shape to drive.

                “Oh, no worries. I’ve got a guest room, plus couch and air mattress. I’ve got a big family who likes to drop in without warning so I always have a shit ton of bedding,” Dan explained, grinning.

                “Okay, that works for me.” They all piled back into the car then and began the trek back to Dan’s. Ten minutes flew by very quickly, especially when you’re drunk and your eyes are closed. Matt nudged him when they got back, and Kevin startled. He momentarily forgot where he was and expected the cold water shock of Riko’s wake ups.

                “We’re back,” Matt whispered before slipping out of the car to behind waking the girls. Renee wrapped an arm around Allison, while Dan leaned into Matt. Once inside, Dan yawned.

                “Renee’s got standing guest room privileges, you and Allison can fight over couch versus air mattress. Air mattress is in the linen closet, along with pillows and blankets. I’ve got an alarm set for eight because we’ve got to be in at nine. Matt leaves around seven, so don’t freak out if you hear noises.”

                Kevin nodded, sure he wasn’t going to retain any of that besides bedding.

                “Kevin, I’ll make sure we leave a little early so you can grab a change of clothing. And with that, good night.” Dan turned, heading up the stairs with Renee and Matt following behind.

                “You can take the mattress, I’ll take the couch,” Kevin offered, while making his way towards what he thought was a linen closet. Allison grabbed his arm, leading him in the right direction. They gathered their bedding and Allison’s air mattress and set everything on the couch before unrolling the mattress. Kevin realized, amusingly, blowing up an air mattress while drunk was more difficult than he’d expected. He was clearly getting too old to keep drinking like this, not that it was going to stop him. After about five minutes, they finally got the mattress blown up and settled out of anyone’s walk way.

                “Well, that was an adventure,” Kevin muttered, laughing.

                “It was,” Allison said, smiling. Kevin then stood up, slowly stood up, having knelt down to help Allison get the pump working and began unfolding his own bedding. Which again, wasn’t easy thanks to his intoxication levels.

                But he managed, sitting down, before removing his shoes and belt. He knew he wasn’t going to be the most comfortable, but he could at least try and lay down.

                As Kevin was drifting off to sleep, he realized something. Something he already knew; but not in this capacity. Family wasn’t always blood. He always took that in the negative sense, thanks to his adoptive family. But it looked like he’d found what could be a great little family. He had his Dad back, partners that cared. People that actually really seemed to give a damn about what happened to him. It was nice.

                If his past came back to haunt him…he’d be ready this time.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, for this installment. Hopefully everyone enjoys it. I'll be working on one of two others soon enough. Both will tie everything learned in these chapters together.


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